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Dirty-South Blues Harp forum: wail on! >
OT - Bitten by the Blues Book
OT - Bitten by the Blues Book
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LFLISBOA
74 posts
May 25, 2020
12:29 PM
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Hi
Did somebody read "Bitten by the Blues: The Alligator Records Story (Chicago Visions and Revisions)" ? I'd like to know how much does Bruce mention many harmonica players he recorded and booked? Considering that Alligator Records recorded many great harmonica albums, I'm interested on some history about them (Walter Horton, Carey Bell, the Harp Attack "gang", William Clarke, Musselwhite, and many others).
Many thanks
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SuperBee
6650 posts
May 25, 2020
3:17 PM
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I read it.
He dedicated a reasonable amount of time to the Big Walter with Carey Bell album, because it was the second recording he made, but it was not a big seller. The Hound Dog Taylor record he began with gets a lot more discussion and he worked hard to promote that record which led to a lot of involvement with Hound Dog for the rest of his life.
I don’t recall a lot of discussion about the other performers you mentioned. There was some, and definitely the Harp Attack album and Billy Branch were mentioned but I don’t think there was a lot of detail. I don’t remember any anecdotes about those, whereas I do recall some stuff he said about the Big Walter album. I don’t know if Bruce was producing that other stuff. He tended to give anecdotes about the artists he ‘discovered’ or went out on a limb for, or were big stars, or whom he argued with etc. The focus of the book is the label and it eventually becomes about the business and how he kept it going and maintained his independence through various existential challenges as popularity of blues music has fluctuated and the way people consume music has changed.
If you were reading to glean info about harp players and particular records, it’s fairly slim pickings I think.
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LFLISBOA
75 posts
May 26, 2020
4:50 AM
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Thanks, SuperBee, you helped a lot. I knew he would give special attention to Hound Dog, since he's his best seller. I think Horton would be a little bit hard to promote, because he was not a great performer (like Cotton or Junior Wells). Harp Attack was one of his best seller too, that's why I though I'd contain more info about it. Thanks again
Last Edited by LFLISBOA on May 26, 2020 4:51 AM
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Laurie McVay
8 posts
May 26, 2020
6:46 AM
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SuperBee provides an excellent summary of an excellent book.
Bastin also makes some shrewd observations of Junior Wells - I agree that Wells' playing became a great deal funkier when he started to use a clean mic. But the book is mainly about blues and the business of trying to sell the music.
I think Bitten By The Blues is essential reading for anyone who loves blues music, harp players included.
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